IS Tougher Enemy Than Al-Qaeda US Military Chiefs Acknowledge

US defence chiefs have explained in simple terms their conviction that a multifaceted long-term war will be needed, with intervention in both Syria and Iraq, if Islamic State is to be uprooted from those two countries.

IS is greatly rich and well-armed, achieving an independence in both arms and money. They are already a far more formidable foe than their original disapproving parent organisation al-Qaeda ever was, as the US military chiefs acknowledge.